Maxie's Bad Day
by Lord Agravane the Undead
Summary: Maxie loses a bet with Archie and has to spend the day at SlatePort Beach. Chaos follows!
1. Chapter 1

**Maxie's Bad Day**

_By Lord Agravane the Undead_

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or any of the characters within.

* * *

**1**

Ok, so this was NOT turning out to be one of the best days that Maxie had even had. True, it wasn't particularly horrible at the moment but still. Losing a bet was bad. Losing a bet to *Archie* was worse!

Maxie did not like losing to his rival.

And the worst part of it all? Maxie had lost a bet that he was had been certain to win. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken up the challenge in the first place.

It had been Maxie's brilliant (?) idea to challenge Archie to a Spicy Food Eating Contest. After all, Maxie was used to eating spicy food (such as lava cookies) and he was almost certain that somebody like Archie lived on sardines and tuna fish and wouldn't recognise a spice if it danced in front of him, dressed like a showgirl from Nimbasa City.

So Maxie had invited Archie round and ordered two extra hot curries from the Mauville Curry Emporium. The idea was that the loser would be the one to take a drink of water from the water cooler first (AKA, Archie). That was what had been *supposed* to happen. Instead, Archie had somehow managed to resist and Maxie had given in and frantically downed a glass of water, after feeling like he'd actually been eating lava from Mount Chimney.

Now the two team leaders stood in the Dining Hall; Archie wearing a satisfied smirk and Maxie, a look of disbelief. Courtney was glaring at Archie as if to say _Don't you dare make the Boss do something really awful _and Tabitha was finishing off what was left of Maxie's curry.

"Ok Archie, you won fair and square," Maxie sighed. "What must I do?"

Archie rubbed his beard. "Hm, let's see. You've gotta…spend the day at Slateport Beach".

Maxie winced. OK, so it could be worse but still…

"Define _day_, as in length," he said.

"ALL day," said Archie. "Until the sun goes down. Which will be at 19:57 tonight".

Maxie checked his watch. "But it's only 11:24 now. That means I'll be there for ages".

"Oh boo hoo," Archie scoffed. "Like as if spending at day at the beach will kill you".

"I…don't like being outdoors too much".

"Sure, I know that," Archie said, rolling his eyes. "You'd rather spend every day holed up in a smoky volcano. Well, today you can't. You've gotta go to the beach".

"OK, fine," Maxie huffed. "I didn't say I wouldn't do it".

Courtney felt sorry for her Boss. "Don't worry Maxie," she said. "Me and Tabitha will come too, to keep you company".

"Uh, we will?" Tabitha asked.

"Yes," said Courtney firmly.

"Um, thanks…I think," said Maxie.

"Good, good!" Archie grinned. "So, shall we be on our way then?"

* * *

Going to Slateport Beach was bad, Maxie thought. Now, it was becoming worse again. He stood outside one of the little striped beach huts, holding a pair of swim shorts. Archie stood opposite him, arms folded across his chest.

"Come on Maxie, stop being such a wuss," he said. "You didn't think you were gonna spend the day here wearing your bloody long coat and thermal bodysuit, did ya?"

"Yes," said Maxie at once.

Archie facepalmed. Then he pointed to the beach hut.

"Go in and get changed," he ordered. "Courtney and Tabitha are". Archie nodded towards two nearby huts. "They're not sissies, unlike their Boss".

"I'm not a sissy," Maxie said, stung by Archie' remark. "I just don't wanna…" He trailed off, blushing.

"This day is not gonna get any easier, is it," he muttered, slinking inside the stripy hut.

Five minutes later, Maxie came back out, wearing just his swim shorts. He felt terribly exposed and embarrassed. Luckily (?) his attention was quickly diverted by Courtney and Tabitha, who had also emerged. They were wearing almost unbelievably skimpy swimwear. Maxie screamed and covered his eyes.

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

Tabitha shrugged. "What's up with him? Anybody would think he'd seen a Great Old One coming up from beneath the ocean".

"Maybe it's just the ocean in general," Courtney suggested. "There is a disturbing amount of it, you know".

"Oi!" Archie said at once. "Bloody cheek!"

"My eyes!" Maxie moaned, taking off his glasses so he could clamp his hand over them. "They burn!"

"Why are they burning Boss?" said a familiar voice. Maxie risked uncovering them and looked in the direction of the voice. He saw a blurry figure there that looked like it could possibly be the grunt M43.

"Is it the sight of my boyfriend in swim shorts cus maybe they are burning with passion?" the grunt enquired. "Uh wait, it isn't, it is Boss? I mean, you can do anything you want obviously, what with being my Boss and all but I really would like it more if you didn't fancy my boyfriend".

Maxie put his glasses back on and M43 came into view. "It's OK M43," he sighed. "I don't fancy him; he's all yours".

"Goody," M43 said happily. He went over to Tabitha and took his hand. "Come on, let's go make a sandcastle".

"Sure Berri," said Tabitha, allowing himself to be led away. Courtney, however, was becoming excited at the sight of the sea and she went over to Maxie.

"Come on Maxie, I wanna paddle! It's too hot, let's go and cool down in the water," she said eagerly.

"I don't…" Maxie began but Archie accosted him, slapping him on the back.

"That's a great idea. Come on, I'll teach you to swim".

"I don't want to learn how to swim!" Maxie protested but Archie didn't listen. He steered Maxie down to the water's edge, with Courtney skipping along in front of them.

"It looks so clean and pretty and nice and OOOOH!" Courtney shrieked, backing away from the sea in alarm. "It's moving!"

"Yes, that's caused by the moon's pull on the ocean," Maxie explained. Archie poked him in the ribs.

"Here, shut it mate! I'm the one who explains sea stuff!" He turned to Courtney and smiled.

"It's caused by the moon's pull on the ocean".

"Uhuh!" Courtney nodded her head and cautiously approached the sea. A wave came towards her and she squealed and rushed towards Maxie, nearly knocking him off his feet.

"Maxie, it's chasing me!" she cried.

"You Team Magma lot are such wimps!" Archie scoffed. He strode into the waves, splashing with his feet. "See, it's perfectly safe". However, he accidentally kicked out at a Corphish. The Corphish was not happy and it jumped up and pinched Archie on the ass.

"Aaaarggghhh, bloody hell!" Archie yelled, splashing round in circles, trying to get the Corphish to let go. Maxie and Courtney yelled with laughter.

"Owwwwwwwwwwwwww, ugh, it's not funny!" Archie shouted. He managed to grab the Corphish and threw it at Maxie. Maxie dodged out of the way but by doing so, he slipped on a piece of seaweed and slid into the sea, tumbling right over. A wave splashed over his head and he panicked.

"Help, I'm drowning!" he screamed. Courtney gasped and forgetting her own fear, rushed into the sea to try and save him. However, Archie was closer and he grabbed Maxie under the arms and lifted him to his feet.

"Hey, you're alright mate, don't panic", he reassured Maxie. Maxie clung to Archie, gasping and spitting out water.

"Courtney, you saved me," he panted. "I nearly drowned!"

"That's Archie, not me," said Courtney, who had darted out of the sea again.

"Huh?" said Maxie, blinking water out of his eyes. He looked up at Archie, who was holding him firmly.

"Ewwwwwwwwwww!" Maxie cried, revolted. "Archie, why are you cuddling me

"I wasn't. I just saved you from drowning, I mean from thinking you were drowning," Archie said helpfully. "You were the one who hugged me first".

"I did not," Maxie said, squirming away from Archie. He looked round and realised everything was horribly blurred. He put his hand to his face and gasped.

"Oh! Where are my glasses?"

"They must have fell off when the wave tried to drown you," said Archie.

Maxie groaned. "Help me find them, please. They've got my Mega Stone in and I can't see at all without them".

"Sure," said Archie at once. He got down on his hands and knees, feeling about in the water for Maxies' glasses. Even though they were nervous of the sea, Maxie and Courtney did the same.

"Don't worry Maxie, we'll soon get them back," said Courtney.

"Yeah," said Archie, groping about in the soft sand under the water. Maxie hunted too but the waves kept splashing the back of his head and he didn't like it. He stood and backed away a little.

"Be careful mate, don't tread on 'em," Archie said.

"I won't, it's just your sea is trying to drown me!" Maxie said. "This is why we need more land and… he bumped into somebody from behind, tripping over them and falling back into the water.

"Hey, watch where you're going, idiot!" somebody said roughly.

"I like that! You tripped me up first, you blockhead!" Maxie said. From somewhere nearby, he heard Archie groan.

"Maxie, I found your glasses!" Courtney yelled. Maxie heard the sloshing of water and somebody pressed something cold and metal onto his face. Everything instantly became clear. Courtney stood there, beaming at him, Archie was nearby, his hands over his eyes and in front of him was an angry looking sailor. A really tough, muscled, angry sailor, about a head taller than Maxie.

"I'm gonna put you in hospital for barging into me like that," he threatened, raising his fists.

"OI NO!" Archie shouted, wading over. "You can't hit a guy with glasses on".

"Oh no? So what you gonna do about it?" the sailor asked.

"I'll fight you instead," said Archie in a tone that suggested he was eager for a scrap. Maxie shook his head and groaned softly.

"Oh please, Arceus, no. Don't let me be saved by Archie!"

The sailor made to swing a punch at Archie and he stepped back to get his balance. He trod on the Corphish from before and it was furious! It leapt up and pinched his ass as hard as it could.

The sailor screamed in pain; the Corphish was now *really* mad and wouldn't let go for toffee. He ran through the water, trying to dislodge it but was unable to shake the Pokemon off. Archie roared with laughter and this set Maxie and Courtney off too. Eventually, by the time he had reached the far end of Slateport Beach, the Corphish finally gave up and dropped off.

"What a good job I found your glasses, Maxie," Courtney said. "You were able to see him get embarrassed right into the distance".

"Awwww, I really fancied a scrap with him," Archie said, with an exaggerated sigh.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

"Right," said Archie, pointing towards the sea again. "Now I'm gonna teach you pair how to swim".

"I don't want to learn how to swim," said Maxie at once.

Archie gave him an incredulous look. "Why the bloody hell not? It's a really useful skill".

"No it isn't".

"It is! It stops you drowning".

"I don't go by any large bodies of water usually, therefore I have no need to worry about drowning".

"What about lava then?"

Maxie glared at Archie. "I think I'd be more concerned about melting first".

"Oh fine," Archie said impatiently. "C'mon Courtney, shall I teach you then?"

"Uh, sure," said Courtney, who was nervous of the water but also curious enough to want to have a go. Maxie stood on the edge of the sea, watching as Archie led Courtney a little further out. It was actually a very calm, day and the waves were quite small.

Maxie watched them, thinking the whole idea was quite ridiculous. Archie was very patient, despite the fact Courtney squealed like a Whismur every time a wave came near her. After a few minutes, Maxie decided his ears had had enough of Courtney's 9000 kHz+ vocalisations and he waded out towards her, planning to offer to buy her an ice cream.

"That's it Courtney, you're doing great now," Archie said encouragingly as Courtney splashed about in the shallows. Suddenly, her ankle brushed something soft and jelly-like. She looked round and saw a Tentacool there, floating lazily along.

Courtney screamed at well over 12000 kHz and she leapt up into Maxies' arms. Maxie was horrified to suddenly find himself encumbered with a scantily clad Courtney and he instinctively dropped her back into the sea. Unfortunately Courtney's foot got caught in the back of his swim shorts and as she fell, she accidentally pulled them down.

Maxie screamed, if possible, even louder and shriller. Archie nearly fell over with laughing and M43 gasped and covered up Tabithas' eyes.

"Don't look Tabs, it's shocking!" he exclaimed, looking himself so that he could tell Tabitha just how shocking it had been afterwards.

"Courtney! You are seriously losing a weeks' wages for this," a very embarrassed Maxie cried, pulling his shorts back up.

"HELP! The Tentacool is after me!" Courtney shrieked and this time she leapt into Archies' arms. Archie was totally not bothered to suddenly find himself encumbered with a scantily clad Courtney and he grinned in appreciation.

"I'll save you Courtney!" yelled M43, who was now charging towards her, his Eevee in tow. "Aventurine, use Swift!"

"Vee!" said Aventurine, which if N would have been there, could have told M43 it translated as _Not bloody likely!_ Instead, Aventurine sat down and began to wash his tail.

"Don't drop me Archie!" said Courtney, clinging tightly to said Team Aqua leader. Archie grinned smugly. The Tentacool became bored and drifted away on its own.

"Ohhh, Aventurine, you could have made it faint then," M43 whined. "Why didn't you listen to me? Is it cus I don't have enough badges? Or maybe cus I don't have a Mega Stone?" He looked hopefully at Maxie.

"No," said Maxie at once. "You and a Mega Stone would destroy the Universe. Besides, Eevee can't Mega Evolve".

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww," M43 sighed. "I would not. I'd use a Mega Stone very responsibly cos I'm a good grunt!"

Aventurine felt sorry for his Trainer then. He wished he had been a little braver and battled the Tentacool. He decided to prove that he was a brave Eevee after all and used Swift on his nearest target, which was unfortunately Maxie.

Maxie gave a yell as the little Eevee sent a barrage of stars at him, knocking him off his feet and backwards into the sea. Tabitha (who has just come over to see what was going on), decided to try and help Maxie. He rushed forwards, tripped over Aventurine and fell right on top of Maxie. Courtney squealed again and Archie was torn between sympathy and laughing. He decided to go for the second option.

"Oh, bad Aventurine!" M43 squealed. "Daddy is NOT happy with your naughtiness today at all!"

"Uhh, sorry Maxie," said Tabitha, helping Maxie to his feet. "You OK?"

"I…think so…" a dazed Maxie said. He accidentally stood on the Tentacool (which had randomly returned) and it became very angry! It shot its tentacles up and stung him on the ass. Maxie screamed and Courtney screamed too (in sympathy). M43 screamed just to join in and Tabitha shook his head.

"Maxie is having a bad day today," he muttered.

* * *

That evening, Maxie was lying on his bed, thoroughly fed up with everything. His ears hurt form the earlier screaming, his ass was sore from the Tentacool sting and on top of all that, he had got sunburned and now resembled a Tamato berry. He lay there, feeling sorry for himself and trying to think up new ways to shrink the ocean and expand the landmass.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Maxie winced, wondering who it was.

"Yes?" he called out.

"Boss, Shelly is here to see you," a grunt who sounded like M5 called back.

Maxie was puzzled. Shelly? At the Team Magma Base? However, he certainly didn't complain. "Yes, let her in".

The door opened and Shelly entered Maxie's room. She gasped when she saw how red Maxie looked and hurried over to him.

"Oh, you're hurt!" she exclaimed, sitting down on the bed next to Maxie and very gently stroking his hair.

"Umn, it's nothing, just a little sunburn," said Maxie at once.

"It doesn't look like nothing," Shelly said. "Do you have any sun cream?"

"Uh, no," Maxie admitted. Despite living in a tropical area, he so rarely went outside, he didn't see the need for sun cream.

"Ouch! Well, luckily I've got some on me," said Shelly. She opened her handbag and took out a tube of cream. Then she proceeded to rub it onto Maxie's back.

"Oh, that feels much better," Maxie sighed.

"Good, good," said Shelly, squeezing more cream onto her hands. "Well, I came to see how you were. Archie told me all about the bet and I was concerned".

"Ugh, the bet," Maxie groaned. He never wanted to think about it again.

"It sounded horrid for you," Shelly continued, in exactly the right sort of sympathetic tone. "Sometimes Archie can be so mean! However, he is usually nice". She continued to rub cream onto Maxie. "Tonight, he has decided to be nice. He felt bad about you having a rotten day, so he sent me over to invite you to dinner".

"Uh, he did?" Maxie asked. "When?"

Shelly glanced at the clock on the wall. "At 21:00, which is about forty five minutes from now".

"Hmm," Maxie said. He didn't really feel like going to Team Aqua's ship but on the other hand, it would be rude to turn down a dinner invitation. Plus, he was feeling rather hungry.

"Alright then, that sounds much nicer than going to the beach".

"Of course," said Shelly. "Archie is a magnificent cook and he is preparing a splendid dinner for you. Your Admins are invited too, of course".

"I hope he is preparing a lot of dinner then," said Maxie, thinking about Tabitha.

"Hm, yes, it will be a banquet," Shelly said. "We can fly there on Archie's Tropius; he lent me her for the journey. She flies very smooth and fast and…"

Maxie wasn't listening; he was reading the information on the back of the tube on sun cream. _For sunburn and Pokemon stings, especially Tentacool stings_.

Maxie glanced round at Shelly, grinning a little.

"Here, what time did you say we had to be there for again?"

* * *

21:00 arrived and Maxie, Shelly, Courtney and Tabitha arrived at Team Aqua's ship. It was a beautiful clear evening, with the stars sparkling overhead like jewels. A cool breeze had risen and Maxie found it soothing to his sunburn.

Tropius circled round a couple of times, before landing gently on the wooden deck. Shelly thanked her and dismounted, beckoning for the Team Magma guys to do the same. They slid of Tropius' back; Tabitha losing his balance a little but managing not to fall over.

"And here we are," said Shelly, shaking her hair back. "And here comes Archie too, just on time".

Archie hurried over to his guests, waving to them. "Of course I'm on time you daft woman, I'm the Boss round here," he said. "Hey, Maxie!" He made to slap Maxie on the back but Courtney shook her head and Maxie gave Archie a death glare.

"Don't touch the sunburn!"

"Oops, uhuh, yeah," said Archie, pulling his hands back. "Ok, well glad to see you and the Admins could make it". He grinned at Courtney especially and she blushed. "Shall we go then?"

The Team Magma guys followed Archie and Shelly below deck. Archie described the meal to them as they walked, waxing lyrical about all the different foods he and Matt had prepared.

"Oh yeah, we've really put on a spread tonight," he was saying. "We've got clam chowder, smoked salmon with Nomel berry sauce and a posh white win from Santalune City, in Kalos".

"That all sounds delicious," said Maxie, wondering what clam chowder was.

"It will be, just you wait," Archie said. They stopped outside the door to the Dining Hall and Archie flung it open, to be greeted with an unwanted sight…

About fifty grunts sat around the table, licking their lips and looking very full and content. All the plates, dishes and glasses were completely empty!

Tabitha stared in horror. Courtney and Shelly exchanged glances and Archie said a very rude word!

"Hi Boss!" said A303. "That was a great meal you made for us".

"Yeah," A27 added, beaming. "Thanks!"

"I…what the bloody hell!" Archie exclaimed. "It was for… BLOODY GRUNTS!"

"Thanks Boss, we thought it was for us," said A303.

Archie spluttered, shaking his head. He turned to look at Maxie.

Maxie stared for a moment and then he began to laugh.

He couldn't help it. Archie looked SO mad and the grunts looked so clueless. Maxie thought it was nice that somebody else's' grunts had screwed up for once.

"Uh, sorry about that Maxie," Archie muttered, rubbing his head awkwardly.

"Don't be," grinned Maxie. "Heh, I guess the day hasn't turned out to be all that bad after all!"

**The End**


End file.
